ICBF income from cattle tag levies decreased by around a quarter of a million, a fall of 28%, in 2016 on the year previous, ICBF’s annual report for 2016 shows. The report was presented at last Friday’s AGM.

In 2016, it collected approximately €640,000 in levies from farmers, down on the €890,000 it collected in 2015.

From 1 November 2016, it was confirmed that farmers would be able to opt out of paying the levy, following a cattle tag tender which saw Mullinahone Co-op and Cormac Tagging approved to supply tags. When ordering tags, farmers could opt out of paying the levy on the form. A third tag supplier has since been approved; Datamars.

The tag contribution, €0.38, is paid on a voluntary basis on each national tag purchased. The levy does not apply to replacement tags.

These figures do not take full account for the complete tag orders for the 2017 calving season

The ICBF is also in receipt of an annual Department of Agriculture grant.

In 2016 this fell to €1.8m, down from the €2.1m it received in 2015.

Services income

Despite a fall in income from tags, overall income at the ICBF increased to €17.4m last year – an increase of 128% on year previous levels.

This surge comes from the service fees as a result of the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP). The annual report attributes the ‘significant’ genotyping costs of the scheme to the increase, with income from 2015 and 2016 from the scheme both being processed last year.

Accounting for 70% of services income last year, genotyping costs saw services income jump from €6.38m to €15.8m in 2016.

Meanwhile, ‘profits’ at ICBF, the surplus on ordinary activities after taxation as ICBF qualifies for charitable status, fell from €147,052 in 2015 to €34,020 last year.

Salaries

The annual report shows that wages and salaries increased by 14% to €2.7m, while pension costs were up 68% on 2015 to €170,839.

Overall, ICBF’s staffing costs increased by 16% in 2016 on the year previous.

The increase in staffing costs can be attributed to a boost in the average number of people employed by the society in the financial year. It increased from 53 to 63.

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